Steam-generator.



JAMES M. SEYMOUR, JR, oF NEWARK', NEW JERSEY.

STEAM-GENERATOR.

Specification of Iletters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1i, 191.6...

v Application filed March 10, 1915. Serial No.- 13,300.

l 'o all whom it may concern:

Be it Vknown 'that I, JAMES SEYMoUn,

J r.,'a citizen of the United States, residing at' Newark, in the county of Essex and State 5 of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'Steam-Genera tors; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description o f the invention, such 'as will enable others' skilledy inthe art'vto which it appertains to make and u'sethe saine, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, 4which form a part. of this specification.

The present invention` hasreferen'ce, generally, to improvements in steam generators; and the'invention'ielates, more particularly, Lo an efficient and 'economical apparatus for generating steam by the application of heat to 'waterwithout waste or loss of any of the" thermal .units liberated. by combustion in vaccordance with the principles of the present invention. f, The present invention has for itsprincipal object to provide a novel construction of steam genera-torv or boiler provided with an internal means, preferably submerged in the water contained in tlieboiler, for applying heat directly to the water, thus doing away with external fireboxes, burners, or the like, andfalso eliminating fiue's, chimneys, etc., in connection withvsaid boiler. Itis a well recognized fact that under ordinary boiler practice /whereby heat is applied externally to the boiler, a great percentage of the thermal units liberated by` external combustion are lost'and Wasted, both on account of radiation and loss through flues and chimneys.

It is the objectief my invention, therefore, 40 to so provide the location of combustion that the thermal' units Aliberated thereby are transmitted directlyand-immediately to the water in the boiler, `so that the water takes up all the heat generated by the combustion,

. therefore producing. for a given amount of fuel. afar greater amount ofsteam than iiue boiler. l

invention in View,l the Same consists, pri-` Jmarily, inv the jn'ovel construction' of the steam generator or boiler hereinafter set" .water line or. level of the boilershell.

ftlier objects of the -present invention, not

f orth, and, lfurthermore, Vthe invention consists inthe seve'ral novel arrangements and' combinationsiof the various parts of te same, as well as in, the details of the construction of said parts, all of which will be more fully described in the-followingspecifcation, and then finally embodiedin the claims which are appendedto and which form anessential part of said specification. The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanyingdraWing,'-in which I have illustrated a boiler embodying one form of construction embodying theprinciples of my present invention, said boiler being slmi `1 in longitudinal vertical section, and certain. mechanisms associated with said boiler beingshown in diagrammatic style merely'to illustrate one possible manner of supplying and igniting f-uel in connection with` my novel boile l,

Referring now to the said drawing the reference characterl indicatesy 'a boiler-'shell ,y of desirable form, and preferably constructed of steel, Said boiler-shell 1 is provided with a suitable water inlet pipe 2,-through which water may be fed to the interior of said boiler-shell by any suitable feeding means, such as'an injector, pump or the like. Located within the interior of said boiler-shell, and preferablyadjacent to its lower end, so that the same is submerged in the ywater contained in said boiler-shell, is' 'a retort or cylinder 3 providinga combustion-chamber 4 open at its bottom end. While Ait is preferable to submerge said retort or`cylindei' 3, I do not wish tobe con- .fined to locating the same in such position since said retort or cylinder may also perform its functions if placed yabove creat the Conr nected with said retort or cylinder 3, vand communicating with its combustion chamber 4, is a fuel conducting feed-pipe '5,the

same passing from said retortor cylinder 3 outwardly. through a stuffing-bex 6 formed in connectinwith the wall of said boilershell 1. When desired the openl end of said i combustion chamber 4 may be normally closed by a spring pressed valve-member 7, although if it is desired such 'valve-member y' may be eliminated as it is notahsolutely essential to the prop er operationof the retort i i -or cylinder function, as will presently he more fullv understoo Y v The fuel to be intro ced into and burned 'in said combustion chamber,lioffsaidwetort or cylinder 3 is preferably a suitable combustiblev gas, such a's producer gas, or vapor gases from petroleum bases, or Aany other free burning gas, and such combustible gas 5 is mixed With ai'r to supply the requisite amount of oxygen to support its entire combustion, the proportion preferable of air to gas being eightxvolumes to one, although this proportion Will bevariable according to the kind of gas employed.y The reference character 8 indicates a suit- I able'pressure-tank Which is supplied by air vand gas compressing pumps 9 and 10 With the combustible fuel mixture. The fuel mixture is therefore stored in said pressure-tank 8 under a pressure in excess ofthe pressure of the Water in the boiler-shell l.

Connected with the outer end of said fuel conducting feed-pipe 5 is the outlet 11 of .a

measuring feed-valve casing 12, the inlet end 13 of which is 'connected 'by suitable fuelfconveying pipe 14 with the pressuretank 8. The said measuring feed-valve may be made in various forms, but in the drawing I have illustrated same a rotating form,

the-casing. 12 being cylindrical in form and containing av rotating valve-member 15 providing a measuring chamber 1.6. The Wall of said valve-member 15 isprovided With va port 17 which, -upon rotationof the valvemember, is registered alternately with the l inlet end 13 and'outlet end 11 of the valvecasing 12, and consequently carrying the -measuring chamber 16 alternately in vco1nmunication with the pressure-tank 8 in its supply of fuel and With the combustion chamber 4 ofthe retort or cylinder Since the fuel mixture. inv said pressure-tank 8 is I maintained under a pressure greater than r40 the pressure of the Water in the boiler-shell 1', it follows that, when the port 17 of the valve-member 15 registers in communication with, the pressure-tank S, a charge of fuelmixture'will rush into and fill said measur- I ing chamber 16, ',.The continued rotation of the valvemember 15 Will then bring` the port 17 in communication `With the feed-pipe 5,

\ so that the charge of compressed fuel-mix`` ture in' said measuring chamber 16 Will be liberated therefrom and Will thereupon pass into said combustion chamber 4 .of said re# e tort or cylinder 3. Suchexpansion of the fuel charge as results from its passage into the combustion chamber 4 is'not sufficient to reduce Water 'in the boiler'shell 1, and-consequently Veven though the valvelni'eniber '7 closing the `open end of said retort or cylinder rbeseliminated the water is maintained against entranetossaidgcombustionf chamber A 4 since the fpressu're of the Vfuelfchl-ein over QJalances the vpressure of theavaterfifter the fuel charge has thus been introduced into the combustion chamber 4, this combustion may take place with explosive effect which 6'5 expels the liberated thermal units directly into the Water, the valve-member 7, When the same is employed, being lifted from its seat by the force of the outflow of suddenly nition of the fuel charges introduced into the combustion -chamber 4 of the retort ,or cylinder '3, comprises, preferably, an elec-` tric sparking system, having sparking-terminals 19 connected with said retort or cyl- 85' inder 3, the spark-gap formed thereby being located Within said combustion chamber 4 and electrically connected in thc circuit 20 of a battery 2l, or other suitable source of electricity. Connected in said circuit 20 is the `90 usual spark-coil 22, and also connected in said circuit 20 is a timer or make and break device 23, which is operated in synchronous timed relation tol said measuring feed valve so that an ignition spark is produced after lthe introduction of each charge of fuel with the combustion chamber 4 of the retort or cylinder It Will be understood that the speed of the successive introduction, igni-l tion and. combustion of the fuel in'the com- 100 bu'stion chamber 4 of the retort or cylinder l 3 will be determined by the speed of the rotating measuring feed-valve, and that the frequency Qf combustion of fuel charges de. termines the amount of liberated thermal units applied to the water in. the boiler-shell 1 in a given time, which frequency may bel variable accordingl to the demandsupon the boiler for steam.' A s a precautionary measure the fuel-con- 11,0 veymg. pipe 14 leading from the pressuretank 8'may be provided with a back-lire 0rv back-Hash arrester 24, containing a ne mesh screen,"so that any back-Hash or` iire from ,the combustion in said combustion chamber.

4, even though it should "perchance pass through said measuring feed-Valve, cannot reach the contents of said pressure-tank 8. Ofrcourse it Will be understood tllatthe products ofA combustion'are forced directly. 120 into the water, fandcornprise both hot gases and solids, the'fgas will rise through the' Water until it emerges 'therefrom and mixes `with steam aboveI the vWater, Whereas the solids, such` as carbon, are separated from 1.25.

til@ lgases andYare'f-h'eld in suspension in the Water 'or precipitated to the bottom of the boiler-shell. When desired one or more screens 25 may be employed which Will further tend to retard the upward ioW of the ,1,30 i

.gas until all the thermal units it bears are absorbed by the Water, and which, further` more, Wiil'"tend to hold baoksolids and finally assure the precipitation of the same to the bottom of the boiler-shell 1. The said boiler-shell V1 may be provided with one or more man-holes 26, of any usual construetion, through which access to the interior of the boiler-shell 1 may be' attained vfor the purposes of cleaning out the same and the 'retort r cylinder 3, o'r for replacing the spark terminals, or Afor any other necessary purpose, said man-holes being normally sealed by the man-hole plates 2 It must be understood that my invention includes the use of oneor more retorts or cylinders r3 Within a boilerfshell 1, andin fact the scope of the 'invention is comprised in 'an apparatus for liberating thermal units directly in contact .with the Water in a boiler-shell in its'broadest aspect, -with the result of utilizing allA the thermal units produced by the fuel combustionwithout loss or Waste. It will therefore be apparent that many changes maybe 'made in lthe details and arrangements of the structures s own in thev accompanyingzdrawings and described in the foregoing specification, and.

as defined in the appended claims, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Hence, Ido not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the `various devices and parts as herein set forth, andas illustrated in the accom-l shell, a fuel feed-pipe communicating with said combustion chamber, a measuring valve, I

connected with said fuelfeed-pipe adapted to liberate gas charges into said combustion chamber Aunder compression equal to `or greater than the pressure of Water in saldi boiler-shell, a gas'supply pressure-tank coni nected with said measuring Valve, means for feeding to and compressing vgas and air within said pressure-tank, and means for gy niting the gas charges within said l-combus tion chamber. 2. YA steam generator comprisin a boilershell, a retort within said boiler-she l providing a combustion chamber open to communication Wi'th the Waterin `said boiler-shell,

a fuel feed-pipe communicating with said combustion chamber, a measuringyalve connected with said fuel feed-pipe adapted to liberate gas charges into said combustion chamber under compression equal 'to or i greater :than the pliessure of Water in said boiler-shell, a gas supply prsure-tank connected with said measurlng Valve, means for lfeedinglto, and Acompressing gas and air Withinsaid. pressure-tank, and means for igniting the gilscharges Within said combustion chamber; comprising spark-terminals Within :said combustion chamber, an electric circuit connectingsaid spark-terminals, and a timed circuit closing device Vfor `n1aking and .breaking said 4electric circuit-to jprodnce ignltlon sparks at said spark-terminals.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above-I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of March, 1915.

t JAMES M./sErMoU'R, JR.

Witnessesz' ,5,

FREDK. FRAENTZEL, Funnix, H. FRAENTZEL, 

